美国小学英语教材2:第10课 啄木鸟"银行"

 　　The Woodpecker's Bank 啄木鸟“银行”

　　One winter Mary and Peter wanted to have a feeding table in their yard for the birds. 某个冬天，玛丽和彼得想在自家院子里放一张喂食桌。

　　"I'll show you how to make one," said their father. 爸爸说：“我为你们演示怎么做。”

　　So they all worked on it every evening until it was done. 于是他们每天晚上都一起制作它，直至完成。

　　The feeding table had a wide roof¹ to keep off the snow and rain. 喂食桌有一个宽顶用来遮挡雨雪。

　　Peter put it up near the window so that Mary and he could watch the birds. 彼得把它放在窗边，这样他就能和玛丽一起看鸟了。

　　Every morning the children put small pieces of bread on the feeding table. 每天早上，孩子们都会在喂食桌上放一些小面包屑。

　　Then they sat at the window and watched the chickadees, bluejays, and other birds come for their breakfast. 然后他们就坐在窗边，看山雀、冠蓝鸦和其他的鸟儿来吃早餐。

　　One of the birds that came every day was a woodpecker. 每天都来的是一只啄木鸟。

　　He was a pretty black and white bird with a red head. 它黑白相间，脑袋是红色的。

　　The children found out something about this woodpecker.  孩子们发现了这只啄木鸟的某些事。

　　When he flew away from the feeding table, he always took some food with him. 当它从喂食桌飞走时，总会带走一些食物。

　　One morning Mary was watching the woodpecker when he flew away from the feeding table. 一天早上，玛丽在啄木鸟飞走时观察它。

　　"Oh, Peter!" she called. "I know where the woodpecker takes his crumbs²." 她叫道：“噢，彼得，我知道啄木鸟把面包屑带到哪儿去了。”

　　"Where?" asked Peter. 彼得问：“哪里？”

　　"To the roof of the garage," said Mary. "I just saw him carry one up there and push it into a crack³." 玛丽说：“车库顶儿上。我刚看到啄木鸟带着面包屑飞上去了，然后把它塞进了裂缝里。”

　　"How strange!" said Peter. 彼得说：“好奇怪啊！”

　　"That is not a strange thing for him to do," said father. 爸爸说：“它这样做不奇怪。

　　"Woodpeckers use holes in trees for their nests⁴, and they often hide food in holes and cracks⁵. 啄木鸟利用树洞安巢，它们经常把食物藏在洞里和裂缝里。

　　This woodpecker wants to keep some of his crumbs until he is hungry." 这只啄木鸟想保存一些面包屑，留着饿的时候吃。”

　　"Oh, I see," said Peter. "He saves crumbs just as Mary and I save money in our banks. 彼得说：“噢。我明白了。它储存面包屑就像我和玛丽在银行存钱一样。

　　The crack in our garage roof is his bank." 我们车库顶儿上的裂缝就是它的‘银行’。”

　　For some time the children watched the busy woodpecker carrying crumbs from the feeding table. 一段时间内，孩子们都在看忙碌的啄木鸟从喂食桌上带走面包屑。

　　He pushed each little piece of bread into the crack with his bill. 它用喙将每一小片面包屑塞进裂缝里，

　　Then he flew up into a tall tree and looked around. 然后飞到高树上，环视四周。

　　All at once a bluejay flew to the roof of the garage and began to dig⁶ out the woodpecker's crumbs with his bill. 突然一只冠蓝鸦飞到了车库顶儿上，开始用喙挖出啄木鸟的面包屑。

　　"Look, Mary!" Peter said. "A bluejay has found the woodpecker's bank." 彼得说：“玛丽，快看！一只冠蓝鸦发现了啄木鸟的‘银行’。”

　　"Oh, dear!" said Mary. "That bad old bluejay will take all the woodpecker's crumbs from his bank." “噢，天哪！”玛丽说，“这只可恶的老冠蓝鸦会从啄木鸟‘银行’里拿走它所有的面包屑的。”

　　But the woodpecker was watching his bank from the top of the tall tree. 但啄木鸟正从高树的树尖儿上盯着它的‘银行’呢。

　　He saw the bluejay down below, taking his crumbs, and he grew very angry. 它看到那冠蓝鸦飞下去拿它的面包屑，变得非常生气。

　　Down came the woodpecker with a loud, fierce⁷ cry. 它飞了下来，发出一声响亮凶猛的叫声。

　　He flew at the bluejay and frightened him away. 它飞到了冠蓝鸦身边并把它吓走。

　　How Mary and Peter laughed at the angry woodpecker! 玛丽和彼得都嘲笑那只生气的啄木鸟！

　　"He got there just in time to save his bank," said Peter. 彼得说：“它回来得刚好，拯救了它的‘银行’。”

1 roof   

n.屋顶；v.给...覆以屋顶，覆盖

参考例句：

• A cat is on the roof.一只小猫在屋顶上。
• Move back! The roof is falling!往后退，屋顶要塌了！

2 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

3 crack   

vi.发破裂声；噼啪地响；vt./vi.（使）开裂；破裂；n.裂缝，缝隙；爆裂声，破裂声，劈啪声

参考例句：

• There's a crack in this cup.这个杯子上有个裂缝。
• There's a crack on the underneath of the bowl.碗底有一道裂缝。

4 nests   

n.（鸟）窝( nest的名词复数 )；温床；（套叠在一起的）一套物件；藏匿处v.筑巢( nest的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds' nests. 杜鹃在别的鸟巢中产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Swallows carry bits of earth in their bills to build nests. 燕子衔泥筑窠。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 cracks   

v.打开( crack的第三人称单数 )；（使…）开裂；说（笑话）；开瓶

参考例句：

• Check the container for cracks or leaks. 检验容器是否有裂缝或者漏的地方。
• cracks in the metalwork 金属件上的裂缝

6 dig   

v.挖（洞，沟等）；掘

参考例句：

• It is difficult to dig the ground when it is frozen.地面冻住了就不易挖掘。
• In those days we often went to dig for wild vegetables.那时候我们常常出去挖野菜。

7 fierce   

adj.凶猛的，残忍的；狂热的，强烈的

参考例句：

• The soldiers got ready for a fierce battle.战士们准备进行一场恶战。
• What he said met with fierce opposition.他的话语遭到激烈反对。